I don't believe in a god because there is no reason I should. Simply, there is no benefit for me. I don't believe in an afterlife, and I'm not interested in following rules written down by dead men thousands of years ago.

For the big questions, I turn to science. I know there is much still unexplained, but I'm OK with that. I don't feel the need to fill in the gaps with imagination and mythology.

Even if the Christian religion was proven correct, I would have a very hard time worshiping their god. The fundamentals of the belief system disagree with me; the morality spelled out in the Bible is not my morality. I'm also fiercely independent and can not tolerate the idea of being subservient to anything.

I simply find the idea that there's some great higher power with some kind of plan for us all rather laughable. In all honesty, it's hard to believe that there's a "God" when there's so much wrong with the world. If there really was some kind of all powerful higher power that supposedly created us all, would it not make sense then that this supposed higher power would do everything within its power to prevent the destruction of its own creation? See, the bible makes out that "God" is our all-powerful caring creator in spite of the fact that there are people suffering.

It natural to feel that way, we all been there.. feeling doubt. God understanding is beyond our understanding.. There is a reason why thing happen the way it is..

God use Satan (used to be name Lucifer before kick out of Heaven) to test us, also to toughen us up for Spiritually Wars.

If it wasn't for the Devil, we wouldn't be able to tell the different between Good and Evil.

Also Satan input impure thoughts in our mind.. Like Doubt.. To lure us away from God and prevent us from truly understanding God way.

Kind of like Game Chess for example we can only see two or 4 move ahead, But God can see all move ahead, His Wisdom is so vast that we don't even have small fragment of this wisdom..

Also Lucifer was consider most powerful Arch-Angel of all, Full of Wisdom, Full of Abilities.. His Pride corrupt his Wisdom thinking that he can defeat God. When Lucifer rebelled, Arch-Angel Michael saw Lucifer and knowing that he cannot defeat him.. So he went to see God and God bestow him some power to defeat Lucifer.. And also since Lucifer left God side, Lucifer already lost the Battle.

I'm a former baptized christian, I know all that mumbo-jumbo. I don't see how this all-knowing god can possibly exist when literally nothing is done about problems that could've been prevented by what you'd call divine intervention.

I don't believe in a god because there is no reason I should. Simply, there is no benefit for me. I don't believe in an afterlife, and I'm not interested in following rules written down by dead men thousands of years ago.

For the big questions, I turn to science. I know there is much still unexplained, but I'm OK with that. I don't feel the need to fill in the gaps with imagination and mythology.

Even if the Christian religion was proven correct, I would have a very hard time worshiping their god. The fundamentals of the belief system disagree with me; the morality spelled out in the Bible is not my morality. I'm also fiercely independent and can not tolerate the idea of being subservient to anything.

I found the highlighted text interesting. Do you not find immortality and having a perfect life in heaven a benefit? This is something I have wondered for those who are either on the fence about the issue or simply against it all together.

It's basically like this...

You have 2 people. One believes and follows God while the other doesn't.

Let's say the one who follows/believes turns out to be right. Okay, he goes to heaven and things happen as told in the Bible. The other guy ends up in Hell for a not so pleasant eternity. I'd say it's obvious which outcome is better for this.

On the other hand, let's say the one who is against God or doesn't believe turns out to be right. Okay, well he dies and that's basically the end of it. The other guy who believes in God ends up dead all the same. The outcome is he is wrong but that's it. He's just wrong.

Now, I'm not a gambling man, and I do tend to side with science/logic on most things, but the above is the reason why I say "I see no reason not to" whenever I speak on these topics.

I used to be Christian but I've recanted my beliefs. I have been agnostic for the last 8 years. Prior to that, I was a Christian for about 15 years. Memorized a bunch of verses and read the book cover-to-cover more times than I care to remember. I brought my whole family and all my relatives to Christ. Went on missions and got baptized and led some groups/events and everything. Now, I just can't.

1. Toxic church environment - I am so sick and tired of seeing people act holier-than-thou in church but being totally different people out of church, especially the younger crowd. Dammit, I see you at those nightclubs and I've run into you more than once, so don't pretend you're better than me while in the presence of your God. Additionally, different people (and different leaders/churches) seem to each have a slightly different interpretation of the scriptures. Everyone else is wrong, according to everyone.

2. History - I'm aware Christianity isn't just a religion that popped up out of nowhere. Religion evolves over the years, and Christianity is no exception. One of the earliest religions similar to Christianity that I know of came from ancient Egypt. There are too many similarities to dismiss it as an unrelated religion. It is therefore just another belief system changed and shaped by time and past social trends, not a special and indelible truth.

3. Distortion - Meaning is lost through translation, and books are omitted from the Bible. What we think of as the Bible does not include all known books that have been discovered. What we hold is a collection that has been carefully selected and assembled by God knows who (pardon the pun). The Bible is not a holy book. It was written by people, just like any other book.

4. Circular logic - There's too much reliance on faith. Oh, it's the Word of God, so you must have faith. Don't question it, God works in mysterious ways. I sincerely believe by now that if God, being so powerful and wise and loving, would have provided more sure proof to people by now if He exists. I'm agnostic, so I'm basically saying I don't know, but I'm not too far from being an atheist. I'm fairly sure now that the Christian God does not exist anywhere but in our minds. If there exists a god, that god is probably not like the one in the scriptures.

5. Selective worship - Sort of like #1 but a little more broad and less personal. People pick and choose what to obey. Obviously, literally doing what the Bible says word for word will make you seem like a lunatic and a social misfit, but selectively following rules means you're not taking the whole book seriously. You have to do what God wants you to do but you're caught between making sense and having faith. You literally can't follow the unadulterated book word for word. You HAVE to sin and feel frustrated. You HAVE to have reliance on God and have faith in the resurrection of Jesus. You need to go to God to get your "fix" of forgiveness, like a drug. You'll just be frustrated over and over until you finally stop trying and "have faith" rather than struggle with impossible conflicting orders.

Edit: There seems to be a misconception that the Old Testament is intended to be applicable to modern life. No. The death of Jesus made that a done deal. The Old Testament is there for you to read and meditate on. The New Testament is where believers need to be most focused.

Don't get me wrong, there are lots of good people at church and it's not all toxic, it's just the youth ministry to me. The main congregation seems less likely to screw me over even if they seem to love gossip. It's a pretty nice place when people are getting along, and some members are very supportive. The problem with me is that I don't share a common thread with them anymore. What holds the church together is the religion, the common goal of worshipping God.

There is peace of mind to be had once you attain the ability to have faith, but it's not for me. I can understand why some people are so devout. They are able to find satisfaction through this religion, but it's not for me. I'm not here to shake up your faith if you're Christian, I'm just sharing my story.

I simply find the idea that there's some great higher power with some kind of plan for us all rather laughable. In all honesty, it's hard to believe that there's a "God" when there's so much wrong with the world. If there really was some kind of all powerful higher power that supposedly created us all, would it not make sense then that this supposed higher power would do everything within its power to prevent the destruction of its own creation? See, the bible makes out that "God" is our all-powerful caring creator in spite of the fact that there are people suffering.

It natural to feel that way, we all been there.. feeling doubt. God understanding is beyond our understanding.. There is a reason why thing happen the way it is..

God use Satan (used to be name Lucifer before kick out of Heaven) to test us, also to toughen us up for Spiritually Wars.

If it wasn't for the Devil, we wouldn't be able to tell the different between Good and Evil.

Also Satan input impure thoughts in our mind.. Like Doubt.. To lure us away from God and prevent us from truly understanding God way.

Kind of like Game Chess for example we can only see two or 4 move ahead, But God can see all move ahead, His Wisdom is so vast that we don't even have small fragment of this wisdom..

Also Lucifer was consider most powerful Arch-Angel of all, Full of Wisdom, Full of Abilities.. His Pride corrupt his Wisdom thinking that he can defeat God. When Lucifer rebelled, Arch-Angel Michael saw Lucifer and knowing that he cannot defeat him.. So he went to see God and God bestow him some power to defeat Lucifer.. And also since Lucifer left God side, Lucifer already lost the Battle.

I'm a former baptized christian, I know all that mumbo-jumbo. I don't see how this all-knowing god can possibly exist when literally nothing is done about problems that could've been prevented by what you'd call divine intervention.

If God fix this problem, than we'll ask him to fix this problems and the next and the next again and again. Its way of the life, We may lose life from Mother Nature or from Human nature!

I simply find the idea that there's some great higher power with some kind of plan for us all rather laughable. In all honesty, it's hard to believe that there's a "God" when there's so much wrong with the world. If there really was some kind of all powerful higher power that supposedly created us all, would it not make sense then that this supposed higher power would do everything within its power to prevent the destruction of its own creation? See, the bible makes out that "God" is our all-powerful caring creator in spite of the fact that there are people suffering.

It natural to feel that way, we all been there.. feeling doubt. God understanding is beyond our understanding.. There is a reason why thing happen the way it is..

God use Satan (used to be name Lucifer before kick out of Heaven) to test us, also to toughen us up for Spiritually Wars.

If it wasn't for the Devil, we wouldn't be able to tell the different between Good and Evil.

Also Satan input impure thoughts in our mind.. Like Doubt.. To lure us away from God and prevent us from truly understanding God way.

Kind of like Game Chess for example we can only see two or 4 move ahead, But God can see all move ahead, His Wisdom is so vast that we don't even have small fragment of this wisdom..

Also Lucifer was consider most powerful Arch-Angel of all, Full of Wisdom, Full of Abilities.. His Pride corrupt his Wisdom thinking that he can defeat God. When Lucifer rebelled, Arch-Angel Michael saw Lucifer and knowing that he cannot defeat him.. So he went to see God and God bestow him some power to defeat Lucifer.. And also since Lucifer left God side, Lucifer already lost the Battle.

I'm a former baptized christian, I know all that mumbo-jumbo. I don't see how this all-knowing god can possibly exist when literally nothing is done about problems that could've been prevented by what you'd call divine intervention.

If God fix this problem, than we'll ask him to fix this problems and the next and the next again and again. Its way of the life, We may lose life from Mother Nature or from Human nature!

As a Christian, I'm curious to find out why I believe in the God of the Bible but other people don't. Let's keep this friendly.

Go!

I commend you for being bold enough to announce your faith on this forum site. Nice to meet you fellow Christian, we watch anime, too. :D

What bother me is that people are saying that Anime are Satanic! -_-; Because how the characters do some hand sign hiddenly and some openly show it.

Don't let that bother you, I mean its not like it'll make us a killers! XD haha

I watch Anime 99% of the time and it doesn't affect me.. I'm still believer in God and Jesus Christ.

Same here, man. The culture shock can alienate things they don't understand or know fully about, especially if you live in the Bible Belt like me. Sometimes you may feel isolated, but here is proof that you can be Christian and watch anime.

As a Christian, I'm curious to find out why I believe in the God of the Bible but other people don't. Let's keep this friendly.

Go!

All I can say is if Jesus ever came back down to Earth, the so-called 'Christians' of today(not you though. I'm sure you're very nice as the others are on here.#NotallChristians do this shit obviously) would probably condemn Jesus as some kind of liberal/libtard/commie/filthy hippie/ SOMEONE WHO WILL RUIN MURRICA/SJWer/whatever insult you got..